Easy Keto Carnivore Braised Short Ribs

I started making these back when I went full carnivore for a few months, and they became one of those recipes I kept coming back to even after I loosened up. The whole thing is just meat, salt, and broth. That’s it. And somehow after two hours in a 325 degree oven, you get fork-tender beef that falls right off the bone with a braising liquid so rich you’ll want to drink it straight (I have, more than once).

The chicken bone broth throws people off. I get it. But here’s what I’ve learned after testing both: two hours in, it’s not chicken broth anymore. It melds with the beef fat and the rendered collagen into something deeper. Beef broth works too, and I go back and forth depending on what I have open in the fridge. But don’t skip the broth for water. The body it adds to the finished dish is everything.

What makes this different from most braised beef recipes is the simplicity. No wine, no tomato paste, no aromatics pile. If you’re eating keto and low carb, that matters. You get all the depth from the Maillard crust you build during the sear and the slow breakdown of connective tissue in the oven. That’s where the flavor lives. If you love simple, deeply beefy cuts like my carnivore smoked beef ribs or a grilled dry aged tomahawk steak, this hits the same note but with that slow-cooked, falling-apart texture.

I’ve pushed my braise time to 3.5 hours before and they were even more tender. The meat practically dissolved. If your short ribs are on the thicker side, don’t be afraid to go past the two hour mark. Check at 1.5 hours and keep going until a fork slides through with zero resistance. Reader Fatima mentioned she let the salt sit the full 30 minutes before searing and got “this crazy dark crust that smells like a steakhouse.” I’ve had the same experience. Rushing the salt rest gives you a decent sear. Giving it the full 30 gives you something completely different.

One thing the recipe doesn’t mention that I want to add: save the braising liquid. After the ribs come out, I set the Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium heat and let it reduce by about a third. It turns into this glossy, beefy dripping sauce that I pour right over the top. It’s also incredible the next day spooned over leftover meat. These reheat beautifully, too. Stick them back in the Dutch oven with the liquid at 300 degrees, covered, for about 30 minutes. The collagen in the broth keeps everything moist. I make double batches specifically because leftover braised beef might be better than fresh, and it works the same way I handle my keto pulled pork leftovers. If you want something quicker on a weeknight, my slow cooker pork ribs are more hands-off.

The whole process comes down to three things: a proper salt rest, a hard sear, and a patient braise. I salt mine a full 30 minutes before searing. I rushed it once and the crust was just fine, not that deep golden brown you want. The full 30 minutes lets the salt draw out surface moisture, which is what gives you that dark steakhouse sear.

For the sear, you need a fat that can handle high heat. I rotate between tallow and lard. Duck fat works too if you have it. The key is working in batches of 3-4 at a time. Crowd the pot and you get steam instead of sear. Steam means no crust, and the crust is where half the flavor comes from. If you’ve seared cuts like grilled flank steak or air fryer steak bites, same principle applies here.

Once seared, everything goes back in the pot with broth, and into a 325 degree oven. I check at 1.5 hours but I’ve gone to 3.5 and they only got better. You’ll know they’re done when the meat has visibly pulled away from the bone and a fork slides through with no effort. If you love that patience-pays-off approach to meat, my sous vide steak is the same philosophy with a different cut.